The Malevolent Mansion
by Sugary Snicket
Summary: The unfortunate Baudelaires find themselves trapped in a haunted mansion with no way out and must escape an evil vampire bent on trying to get them. Danny Phantom cameo.
1. Prolouge

_Dear reader,_

_If you have chosen this fanfiction in hopes of a happy story, I am sorry to tell you that you are mistaken. This story depicts yet another period of bad luck in the Baudelaire orphans' lives. In this short tale alone, they must face unfathomable terror, an old mansion, a tricky labrynth, spiky walls, and a villain more diabolical than even Count Olaf. If you enjoy stories of this sort, or just like scaring yourself out of your wits, continue, but please don't say that I didn't try to warn you._

_With all due respect,_

_Sugary Snicket_


	2. Chapter One

**_Sugary Snicket wants to say:_**

_HIIIII! Here's my new fanfic, hope you like it. Unfortunate Events fans should note that this takes place in the brief time between the end of the eighth book and the beginning of the ninth. I would also like to say that I do not own the Baudelaires or any of their Various Dangerous Frivolities. I don't own Jason or any of his victims either. I DO, however, own Sydney and the events in this story, so if you wish to refer to Sydney in a story of your own, TOO BAD. He's mine and mine alone, and you can't have him! Please review; I miss attention SOOOOO much! Okay, without further ado, let's get this party started riiiiiiight…… NOW!_

I'm sure you've heard the expression "Scared to death" before, so it is safe to assume that you must also know that it doesn't mean that someone is so frightened that they actually die, but instead means that they are horribly frightened. For instance, one might be scared to death if they encountered an octopus in a dark grotto. I would be scared to death if I were to stumble upon Jason in a dark alley. And you might be scared to death if you have somehow provoked several angry, stinging hornets to chase you for a mile. If you have ever been scared to death before, you know it is a very unpleasant feeling to have, and you can also identify with the way the Baudelaires felt inside the cramped, dark trunk of Olaf's car. They had been stuck inside for who knew how long, and they were positive that any second Olaf would find out that they had stowed away in his trunk.

The car suddenly stopped, sending the children and contents of the trunk lurching forward and into a tangled heap, and this worried the children more. Would Olaf come to get something out of the trunk, only to find them? Did he know that they were there? The siblings huddled closer and held their breath, a phrase that when used here means "waited in great suspense for an evil villain to find them". Violet's hair, usually tied up with a ribbon to keep it out of her eyes while thinking, hung in front of her eyes, something she hated more than almost anything. She remembered where her ribbon was and was saddened. Only minutes ago she had used it to trick someone who now believed that she was a criminal. Klaus, the middle child, was silent as he stared at the lock of the trunk with wide eyes. He had read many mystery novels before, and they had given him the same feeling of suspense that he felt now. Sunny, the youngest of the three, was noticeably the most frightened, as her four sharp teeth were chattering and causing her to bite her lip. The three youngsters waited in suspense for the door of the trunk to open, but never once did it budge. They heard a car door slam and the engine rev. Sooner or later, they were bound to get caught; what if this was their last chance for escape?

"Klaus, Sunny, help me search for something to open the trunk of the car," Violet whispered. She quickly searched through the suitcases to find something, anything, to help her get the lock open. She spotted a monocle, the same one Olaf had used while pretending to be an auctioneer. "I bet," she whispered to herself, "I could jiggle the lock with this," and this is exactly what she did. Soon, the door was unlocked, and the threesome was helping their baby sister out of the trunk. They quietly tiptoed into a heavily-wooded area, thick with barren trees, and snuck away from the car as it vroomed off.

The small thicket of trees was really a small part of a very large, very dark forest with an unpaved road as the only way out. There were two things they could do, the first being to walk down the road, and the second being to enter the terrifying forest. "I think we should stay on the road," Klaus said. "That forest is big. We could easily get separated from each other." "Bears," Sunny added gravely. "But," Violet said, "if we were to stay on the road, someone might see us and call the police. If we enter the forest, we'll have enough cover and we'll be able to survive. I know that you know how to make shelters and build fires, and I could help with knots and various inventions to help us obtain water." "I know you know that I know how to do those things," Klaus said, "But still, how are we going to stay safe from Olaf?" "Well, we could make weapons," Violet said, "or move around. This forest is big enough, so why not?" "Food," Sunny shrieked. "Exactly, Sunny, you could gather food," Violet said. She turned back to Klaus and added "Plus, if worst comes to worst, we may be able to find a place to spend the night. What do we have to lose?" With that, Violet scooped up Sunny and started into the forest with Klaus following behind.

The dark night seemed to push in at the children from all sides, and the cold seemed to cut through them like a knife through butter, a saying that has absolutely nothing to do with knives or a creamy concoction which is often spread on toast. It simply means that something, in this scenario, the cold, is so intense that it feels like it is cutting into another object, in this case the Baudelaire orphans, as easily as a knife would cut through butter. The children continued walking, unsure of where they were headed, when they saw a very welcoming sight. In a large clearing stood an even larger mansion with glowing lights on its porch front. "Hey, look!" Klaus said, "Maybe we could stay there for a night." "Let's just hope that the owner doesn't read the _Daily Punctilio_," Violet added in a grave tone. "Tryncee," Sunny said. Klaus and Violet looked at each other, then Klaus said "She's right. Let's go," and with those final words, the Baudelaire orphans walked out of the woods and into a very terrifying episode in the series of unfortunate events that was their lives.

_REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! Tell me what you thought of this chapter! If you don't review, I will whip you twenty times with a wet noodle ;) So please spare yourself the unbearable misery and REVIEW! XD_


	3. Chapter two

**_Thanks for the reviews, everybody. Now, I'm going to be evil for a split second and tell you some stuff. Clicks on flashlight, holds up to face in a menacing way MUAHAHA! Chapter two is here_**

**_! Now, you will experience TRUE fear! MUAHAHAHAHA! Please know that I don't own the Baudelaires, but as I said before, I DO own Sydney, whom you will meet shortly…._**

As your parents have probably told you, you shouldn't talk to adults you don't know, as they could be a good person or a very bad one, and I certainly hope that you won't talk to an adult you don't know any time soon. However, it is sometimes necessary to do this when you are in trouble, as the Baudelaires were. As they walked up to the massive door, they recalled what their parents had said to them some time before this story took place: "Don't talk to an adult you don't know unless you are in great danger," they had said. All of the children knew that they really should not be doing this, but now it was absolutely necessary, and they were on the run from the police, so they had to ask to stay at least one night. Klaus rung the doorbell and the siblings waited with baited breath.

To "wait with baited breath" means to wait in great suspense, and as you can see that it pretty much means the same as to "hold one's breath". In a few minutes, the door opened to reveal a tall man, maybe even taller than Count Olaf, dressed in an all black suit with a bowtie. He had brown, buzz cut hair and was very pale. The Baudelaires assumed that this meant that he didn't get out very often, even though he appeared to be in fine health. He seemed to be in his mid-twenties. He glanced down at the children standing on his doorstep and smiled calmly. He had a sinister gleam in his eyes, which made the Baudelaires very nervous. Realizing their fear, the man changed his expression and said "Good evening, what brings three children like you here?"

"Sorry to interrupt your evening, sir," Violet said politely, "But we're in some serious danger. There's a bad person after us, and we've been running from him for quite some time now. It's even tougher for us since the _Daily Punctilio_ thinks we're murderers. Could we please stay the night?"

"You poor children," the man said as the sinister gleam returned to his gaze. "Of course you may stay the night. My name is Count Sydney Herrington the Third, but you may call me Sydney." At hearing that Sydney was a count, the Baudelaires became very nervous. Could Sydney be Count Olaf in disguise? He had the eyes for it, but if this was true, then where was his unibrow? They glanced at his left ankle for a second and noticed that he had very well-polished loafers and footie socks on, but no tattoo. It was not beyond Olaf to cover it with make-up and shave his eye brow, but it was pretty obvious that this man could not possibly be Olaf. He was far too well-mannered.

"Of course you may spend the night," Sydney said, gazing into each of the children's eyes. Klaus felt anxious about this behavior, so he attempted to pull away from him, but somehow could not. Was he being hypnotized again, as he was by Dr. Orwell so long ago? Klaus knew that this man was probably not Count Olaf, but he still had his doubts. Sunny, of course, had no idea as to what was going on, but still felt intimidated by how Sydney was acting. Sydney opened the door wider and allowed them to enter. To the untrained eye, they seemed okay, but were they really okay?

_Hmm. Sounds like Sydney's quite the shady character. Is he really Olaf in disguise? Are the Baudelaires really okay? Will cheese be eaten in this story? You'll just have to review to find out._


	4. Chapter Three

_**Well, no one will review, and I'm getting bored, so I'm just going to give you the third chapter now because I can't wait any longer. So, here you go.**_

**_NOTE: I STILL don't own ASOUE, and I also don't own Danny Phantom or any of Butch Hartman's characters. If I did, I would be unbelievably rich, but no, I'm just a poor little middle-schooler who writes fictional stories. Pity me. I have a sign right now that says "Will work for reviews." Don't leave me out in the cold. Please?_**

"Please wait here," Sidney said. "I will go get your room ready." He walked down a large hall, leaving the children alone in what appeared to be a large grand room. Klaus turned to Violet and said in a slightly groggy voice, "Are you okay?" "Yes," Violet replied, "But my head hurts a little. I think I may have hit my head on the doorjamb on the way in." "Mine too," Klaus agreed. "Headache," Sunny said, holding her head in pain. Could it have been possible that they had _all_ hit their heads, or was it something completely different? It all seemed too fishy, but they did have a place to stay for the night, so Klaus put the idea out of his head for now as the siblings glanced around the room.

The large room had sweeping staircases and a large ornate clock was set in between them, showing that the time was nine o' clock. Last they remembered, it was two in the afternoon, then they had stowed away in Count Olaf's car for roughly five hours. After that, they had gotten lost for two _more_ hours, and now they were here, surrounded by spooky paintings that seemed to watch their every move and cobweb-laden suits of armor. Violet became unnerved, meaning "very frightened", Klaus was terrified, and Sunny was scared. "I'm back!" Sidney's voice sounded as he walked into the room. "Your room is ready." He led them up one of the staircases and into a bedroom with two beds and a large crib, along with a planning desk and a large shelf of books, both made out of what appeared to be mahogany. "Mahogchew!" Sunny shrieked, crawling over to one of the shelves. Violet walked over to the desk and was delighted to find several pads of graph paper, perfect for planning inventions on. Klaus went up to the book shelf and picked out several books on supernatural beings. Sidney watched them for a few moments, then smiled and closed the door.

Violet's thoughts were interrupted by something fluffy hitting her in the head. She looked behind her and saw Klaus holding a large pillow. "Pillow fight," he said, smacking her in the face with the pillow. Violet ran for cover and grabbed the pillow off her bed. She swung at Klaus's leg, hitting Sunny in the head on accident. "Sowannafight?" Sunny said slyly, grabbing the pillow out of her crib. She swung wildly, trying to hit anyone she could. This went on for quite some time until the pillows started to lose feathers and the siblings decided it was time for bed. Violet set Sunny in her crib, where Sunny began to chew on her blankets. Klaus started to read more of his books as Violet walked over to the mirror. As she untied the piece of her dress she had been using as a ribbon, she thought she noticed something behind her. She turned abruptly, a word which here means "Turned around quickly to find out what was behind her," but nothing was there. Shaking her head as if she were being silly, she turned to face the mirror. As soon as she glanced into it, however, she got the biggest scare of her life.

Beside her in the mirror was the reflection of a strangely-dressed boy with white hair and luminous lime green eyes. Violet glanced beside her, but saw nothing. She turned back to the mirror with wide eyes as the strange boy winked at her. She screamed, waking both of her siblings. Klaus ran over to her, yelling "Violet, are you all right?" "I-I don't know," she responded. "Violet, you look like you've seen a ghost," Klaus said, using a phrase which, of course, has nothing to do with ghosts. This expression simply means "Are you all right? You look like you've been attacked by something very frightening." Of course, if Violet had been in the presence of a specter, she would have ran away screaming, for obvious reasons. "I-I think I did," Violet said, her voice shaking slightly, "I saw something in the mirror beside me. There was a boy in it. He winked at me and smiled."

Klaus quickly became suspicious and ran over to the large pile of books he had taken off the shelf. "Klaus, this is no time to read!" Violet said in disbelief as he quickly flipped through the pages. "I think I really may have seen a ghost!" "Exactly," Klaus said. "That's what I'm trying to find out….aha!" He flipped through the chapter quickly, then shut the book and said "What happened exactly?" "Well, I was over at the mirror," Violet said, "and I noticed someone in the mirror next to me. I looked over to where he should have been, but nothing was there. Then I looked back at the mirror and he winked at me and smiled! Klaus, I think this mansion may be haunted!" "Calm down, Vi," Klaus said, trying to get his sister to calm down. "Tell me, did it feel any colder over there than it does over here?" "Yes," Violet said, her voice becoming shaky all over again. "Then your suspicions may be correct," Klaus said grimly. "This mansion _is_ haunted." "Uni!" Sunny added. "She's right, we have to tell Sidney," Violet agreed as the siblings walked over to the door. Klaus tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. "It's locked!" Violet said in shock. "But why would Sidney lock us in our room?" "Olaf!" Sunny shouted in fear. "What if Sunny is right?" Violet asked. "What if Sidney is really Olaf in disguise?" This thought made all three children nervous. They bolted, a word which here means "ran wildly around the room searching for an alternate way out" rather than "used rivets to hold something down", searching for any way out of the room. Klaus became so flustered that he didn't watch where he was going and ran into the bookshelf, knocking down a book titled _Boxes: a history_. Suddenly, the shelf slid open with a rough scraping sound to reveal a dim shaft.

The three orphans stood stock still, and stared down the long, dimly-lit passageway. "Wow," they said unanimously. The word "unanimously" means "as one", and we can also use the word "unanimously" to describe the way they went down the tunnel. The shelf scraped closed behind them, making them jump. They easily got over this and kept walking. Occasionally, Sunny got tired, so she would tug at the pants leg of her brother or her sister's dress, and they would know that Sunny needed a lift and would carry her for a while. After what seemed like hours, the children came to a large brick wall decorated with several strange pictures. "Klaus," Violet asked, "Why are there scribbles carved into this wall?" Klaus took a torch from the wall and held it near the writing. "These are runes," he said. "I've read about them before, so I know what this message says. 'Those who enter this place shall fall victim to the evil forces within, and shall haunt this place forevermore'." "But who would doom someone to such a fate?" Violet asked. Klaus turned to face her, a look of grim concern on his face. "Someone who wants to trap people here," he responded, "and I think that _we're_ the next victims. Sidney wanted us to come in here. It was a trap, and we fell for it." "How?" Sunny asked. Klaus studied the wall some more. He noticed a swirl pattern surrounded by runes and concluded, "Hypnotism. Sidney's a vampire."

Suddenly, a scraping sound was heard, and the siblings looked at the other walls. "They have spikes!" Klaus said. "We'll be killed!" The walls slowly inched towards the frightened youngsters as Violet thought as hard as she could. "Sunny, you have to bite a hole in the wall, the one with the runes on it," Violet said. "Make sure it's big enough for all of us to get through." Sunny started chomping as fast as she could, but the walls were closing in at an alarming rate. "Klaus, I need you to blow out the torch!" Violet yelled. "What? Are you crazy!" Klaus asked. _"Just do it!" _Violet shouted. Klaus quickly blew the torch out and handed it to Violet, who jammed it in between two of the approaching spikes to prevent the wall from advancing any further. "That'll only hold for so long," Violet said. "Sunny, you'd better hurry!" "Velocity!" Sunny agreed, biting faster. The wooden torch was beginning to crack when Sunny said "Done!" Violet and Klaus quickly scrambled through it as the torch splintered and the walls scraped shut. "We're safe," Klaus said, glancing around the dim room. "Correction," Sidney's voice echoed. "You _were_ safe." He stepped into the room, dressed in a black cape. He smiled evilly, his sharp teeth glinting as maliciously as his eyes. "Looks like I have dinner guests." "We know what you're planning," Klaus said, "and it's _not_ going to work this time!" "Oh dear," Sidney said sarcastically, "looks like I've been caught red-handed." He hit a switch, causing a small hole in the wall to open. Three thin black bands shot out of it and hit the children dead-on. "These are tracking devices!" Violet said in horror as a door opened on the other side of the room. Sidney smiled evilly and said "Run."

The children ran as fast as they could through the opposite door as it slid shut behind them. There was no way out now, and there never was. Suddenly, two more doors slid shut, trapping each sibling in their own space. But it wasn't this or the fact that a vampire was hunting them down like animals. It was the fact that they were trapped here until morning with no way to escape.

_**(To tune of "Amazing Grace")**_

_**Review**_

_**My story**_

_**And I'll give you**_

_**A muffin**_

_**Review,**_

_**Review,**_

_**REVIEW!**_

_**Pleeeease review my story! I crave attention!**_


	5. Chapter four

_**Disclaimer: Look, the Baudelaires go through enough misfortune without me owning them, okay? I don't own "Ed, Edd, and Eddy" either, nor do I wish to.**_

_**Are you ready to find out what happens next? Good. So am I; I've kept both you and me hanging loooooong enough….**_

Violet, who had been trapped on the left-hand side of the room, pounded the wall that separated her from her siblings frantically, desperately trying to communicate with them. Sunny attempted to bite one of the walls, but to no avail. Klaus could not hear this commotion very well, but guessed that Sunny was trying to call to him. As his eyes adjusted to the dimness, Klaus began to search for something that could help him crack the walls. He suddenly noticed a chisel in a nearby corner and reached for its handle, but found to his horror that it was being held onto by something else.

_A skeleton._

Klaus yelped and jumped back in fear. Was this what became of Sidney's victims? Did he kill them before he drank their blood, or did they die while Sidney was still eating? Klaus grasped the chisel again with a shaking hand and easily broke the fragile hand bones of the nearly intact human remains. Klaus would have found it fascinating if he weren't so terribly frightened, as he had recently took an interest in the skeletal system of various animals. He heard Sunny's muffled whimpering and knew that she must be just as frightened as he was, maybe even more so. He had to find a way to communicate with her. Remembering what had happened earlier that day, Klaus grabbed a rock and began to tap on the wall in Morse code.

As you may know, Morse code is often used when sending telegrams, but in this case, Klaus was not trying to send a telegram. He was trying to contact Sunny, who remembered what had happened earlier that day as well, and could understand some Morse code. She heard Klaus tap out the message _Sunny, are you all right? _Sunny grabbed a rock and tapped the message _Yes. Klaus okay? Yes,_ he tapped in reply. _Tell Violet to use Morse code to talk with you, and then deliver her messages back to me. _Sunny quickly crawled over to the opposite wall. _Violet okay,_ she tapped. Violet, who had given up on trying to communicate with her siblings, heard this message, and it sparked a faint glimmer of hope. She grabbed a rock and tapped _Sunny, I am fine. Did you come up with this idea? No,_ Sunny responded. _Klaus. Tell Klaus that he's an absolute genius,_ Violet tapped. Sunny scrambled over to Klaus' wall and tapped _Violet say Klaus very smart. _Klaus smiled, and then tapped _Tell Violet that there's a tunnel at the end of each of our rooms. Tell her to take hers. You have to take yours as well when you finish delivering this message. If I'm right, and I usually am, then we should end up running around in the dark for a while until we run into each other. Do you think you can remember all that? _He waited for a response, but none came. Suddenly, he heard two letters: _O.K._ Sunny had already told Violet as he was telling her the message. Klaus tapped _bye, Sunny_ and left down his tunnel. Sunny tapped _I love you, Klaus_ and left down hers. Violet had already left, but could still hear the tapping behind her and smiled.

As Klaus had predicted, the children ended up wandering down the tunnels for hours and then met at a crossroads that continued up another long, dark tunnel. Violet took an unlit torch off of the wall and lit it on one of the lit ones, as there were no torches to light the way ahead, and she didn't want to bump into anything. After walking for another few minutes, the children came to a large door with a handprint on it.

"I think it's a handprint pad," Klaus said. "They're often used to keep doors locked, but this one's too primitive-looking for that use." "Then it probably is what makes the door open," Violet said. "In certain civilizations, these kind of doors were very common. They also happen to be in some video games." Violet pressed her hand against the door and waited for it to slide open with a rough, scraping sound.

If you have ever gotten lost in a corn maze before, then you know how terrifying it is to be trapped in such a big place with no way out, especially if it is at night, but if you have never had this experience, it goes something like this: there is an entrance and an exit, and the object is to get from start to finish. This can get very confusing and sometimes frightening if you get lost, as the Baudelaires were as soon as they stepped into the massive maze.

Suddenly, Sidney's voice, amplified by huge speakers above the children, boomed throughout the room. "Hello, children," Sidney announced grandly, "and welcome to my labyrinth of terror." Violet leaned over to Klaus and whispered "What's a labyrinth?" "A maze," Klaus answered softly. "He means that he's going to put us in a maze." "Very good, Klaus," Sidney said. "That's _exactly_ what I'm going to do. Starting right after the end of these announcements, you are to find the end of this maze, which has a door at the end of it. The maze is in three sections, the first of which starting right here. If you can reach the end by midnight, which is in two and a half hours, then you escape and win. If not," he paused to chuckle evilly, "you are mine. Happy trails."

A loud, gong-like sound rang as the children started on their way through the maze, but quickly became lost and confused. Occasionally Sidney shouted unhelpful things like "Tick tock, time's running out," making the Baudelaires even more annoyed. They had just reached the entrance to the second area when a large boulder fell into their path. Sunny crawled over to the boulder and tried to bite through it, but it was too large and too strong for her. "Hexinsty?" Sunny asked, which probably meant "Now what?" "Now we try to break the boulder down," Violet said, "by ramming it." "That won't work!" Klaus protested. "We have to try," Violet said, "or we'll end up as a midnight snack." She backed up a few steps and ran at the huge rock at full speed, getting deflected off of it like a ping pong ball. "Well, help!" Violet said. Her siblings walked over to her and tried the same trick she had, also bouncing off of the rock.

After several more tries, the children were so sore that they had to give _upon_ ramming the boulder. Suddenly, Violet heard a calm, soothing voice that could have been her father's. _"Don't give up. I can help you," _it said. _You can break that boulder. Just close your eyes and believe in yourself." _She did as the voice said and saw the boy from the mirror standing in front of her, smiling. She smiled back and opened her eyes, feeling ten times stronger, as if the boy had combined his strength with hers. She stepped back from the boulder and prepared to ram it again.

"Violet, we already tried that," Klaus said. Violet turned to him and said in a strange, echoey tone "Well, I'm going to try it again." She ran into it at an almost impossible speed, cracking it as soon as she hit the rock. She stepped back again and ran into the boulder once more, this time causing it to explode into sharp pieces. _"I'll be watching over you,"_ the calm voice said as Violet felt her natural amount of strength return. Miraculously, she walked out of the dust and rubble unscathed, a word which means "unharmed".

Klaus ran up to his sister. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Yes, I'm fine," Violet replied, "just a little groggy, that's all. Now come on, judging by the way the moon is positioned, we've only got one hour until midnight!" With those words, the children ran through the doorway and into the second portion of the maze, soon stumbling onto another obstacle.

On the other side of the wall was a reinforced steel door with a large golden padlock on it, and suspended from the very high ceiling was a key. "Oh great," Violet said, "How to we get past this?" Klaus tried to find some solution, even asking Sunny to try biting the door down. Unfortunately, the siblings found out that reinforced steel was one of the few things that Sunny could not bite through. "I know we have to get that key," Klaus said, "but the only way up there would be to –" _"Fly?"_ the strange voice asked Klaus. "Yes," Klaus said, "That's _exactly_ what must be done."

In my travels, I have seen a great number of strange and sometimes unpleasant things. I have been to South Carolina and seen a large plaster dinosaur on a hilltop. I've walked along the bottom of the Grand Canyon and found the skeleton of a gold miner, and explored a cave that I eventually became lost in, but never before, in all of my experiences, have I seen a boy fly, let alone Klaus Baudelaire. As soon as he jumped up to reach the key, he started hovering in midair, and then flew up to the key. He landed smack dab in front of the door and unlocked the door. _"I must go,"_ the voice said,_ "but I will help you when you need me."_

Klaus suddenly shook his head as if he had just woken up. Violet walked over to him and asked "What happened?" "I don't know," Klaus responded. "I heard this voice one second, and the next I was flying up to the key. It was really weird. And for a split second when I closed my eyes, and before I grabbed the key, I saw the boy you described from the mirror." He thought about what had happened, then suddenly said "I think we were possessed by ghosts, or should I say _a_ ghost."

Violet realized with a slight pang of fear that Klaus may have been right. "But I thought that ghosts were just an urban legend," she said in awe and fear. "Well, believe, Vi," Klaus said, grinning. "Ghosts _are_ real, and our experiences are proof." Violet looked at her brother in astonishment. "No time to chit-chat," Klaus said, "We have to keep moving. Judging by the angle of our shadows in the moonlight, we have thirty minutes until midnight." "Thirty minutes!" Violet said in fear and slight astonishment. "We better get moving! Time's a-wasting!" The children started on their way as Violet quietly added under her breath "I've always wanted to say that."

The trio was suddenly stopped by yet another road block; this time a large steel wall separating them from the exit. "What now?" Violet and Klaus complained in unison. The strange voice returned, but this time it was Sunny who heard it. _"I can help,"_ it said as Sunny crawled over to the wall and bit through it with ease. When Sunny had reached the other side, she yelled back "Chewy" in the strange echoey tone Violet had used. The older siblings crawled through the hole as Sunny shook her head as if she had just snapped out of a trance.

"Where is the door?" Violet asked. Klaus was staring at the ceiling. "There," he said, pointing to a square of light above them. Klaus checked the position of the moon and noticed that it was eleven fifty-five and counting. They had less than five minutes to escape the mansion safely. The whole situation seemed pointless as Sunny glanced at the hole and noticed two small spots of greenish light. "Looky," she said, pointing to the lights. Her siblings turned as they realized in horror what the lights were.

_Eyes._

The siblings screamed and clung to each other as the lights approached. What was back there? Was it a ghost? Was Klaus right in saying that the house was haunted? The children could only stare in wide-eyed fear as the eyes got closer to them. They so far had been lucky enough to escape every problem they had found themselves in, but now it was clear that their days were numbered. It was clear that their luck had just run out.

_**Ooh, cliffhanger! I love to leave you hanging! Oh, I actually DID get a review for this, yay! Thanks for reviewing, you get a muffin! (Don't worry, it's chocolate coated with powedered sugar!)**_


	6. Chapter Five

_**Disclaimer: I in no way whatsoever am associated with Lemony Snicket or Butch Hartman, I do not own Violet, Klaus, or Sunny Baudelaire, I don't own Danny Fenton/Phantom or his friends, no matter how much I want to, blah, blah, blah, you know the drill!**_

**_I don't own the quotes from Finding Nemo, Balto 2, or All Grown Up either. In short, I don't own diddly, don't own squat. Diddly squat!_**

I'm sure you've heard someone tell you that they've "gotten up on the wrong side of the bed" before, which of course has nothing to do with beds, but everything to do with waking up. For me, I wake up on the wrong side of the bed if I somehow manage to get myself suspended from school. For you, it might happen on the day of the school dance, when you spill punch on your crush. For the Baudelaires, they got up on the wrong side of the bed when they woke up on the day of the fire that destroyed their home and family, but today seemed especially bad. Just on this very day alone, they had saved Violet from an unnecessary and ridiculous operation, just barely escaped a menacing fire at a hospital, had to hide in their enemy's cramped trunk, gotten lost in the woods, gotten trapped in a maze in a huge house with a vampire bent on having them for dinner right on their tail, and now they were stuck in a dingy, deserted hallway with someone – or some_thing_ – walking towards them. The siblings were so scared that they couldn't do anything except scream as whatever was back there came closer. "Don't hurt us!" Violet yelled, shielding her younger siblings as if there was about to be an explosion. "We didn't know that this was your house! Please just leave us be!" She broke down and cried, unable to bear the overwhelming fear she felt.

"I don't want to hurt you," said a familiar voice, and Violet realized that this was the ghost that had somehow helped her earlier. She smiled and said "Who are you?" "It's not really _who_ I am," the voice's owner said, walking into a slightly less dim part of the room. "It's more like _what_ I am." The person's eyes glew a venomous neon green, but not in an uninviting way. The way they shone seemed to be inviting rather than frightening, as if the person were hiding secrets that he or she would not reveal. "Um, Vi," Klaus asked, "Is neon green a _natural_ eye color?" "What do you think?" Violet whispered harshly, then turned back to the person and said "Okay, then _what_ are you?" The person seemed to smile, then said "I am a ghost hunter."

Violet was confused for a moment, first at the fact that she was looking at someone who was an actual ghost hunter, and then at the fact that he didn't really have any tools for the job. In all of the ghost movies she had seen, ghost hunters usually had quite a bit of technology with which to capture the spirit haunting the house, mansion, graveyard, et cetera. This person, however, only had what appeared to be a small, thermos-like object strapped to his back. Was this guy nuts? Violet, being a very polite person, did not ask this, but instead said "But I thought ghost hunters had more tools than that." "Most do," the person said, "but not me." With that, he stepped into the dim moonlight, revealing at long last who he was.

Violet gasped. She had seen this boy before. He had the same stark white hair, the same eye color, and the same black and white jumpsuit. She realized that this was the boy that she had seen in the mirror, but not beside her, and this was the part that confused her the most. How could a ghost hunter be a ghost? "You," Violet said, astonished. "You're the boy from the mirror!" "Yes," the boy replied. "But you weren't there! Just your reflection! How can a ghost take down its own kind?" "I'm not a ghost," the boy replied, "But I'm so close to one that it scares me." "Shuffie?" Sunny asked, which meant "Well, if you're not a ghost, and not a human, then what are you?", and Violet was quick to translate so the boy could understand her. "I," he said with a sly grin on his face, "am a halfa." Klaus suddenly realized something. "Did that kid," he asked, "say what I think he just said?" "A halfa?" Violet answered in confusion. "Yes. There's only one person who is a teenager and ghost hunter and calls himself a halfa," Klaus said, "and not only is he the same person that's all over the news, but he's been wrongly accused, like us, and his name is Danny Phantom!"

Danny raised both hands in the air as if he had just given up a fight. "You caught me. I think I know you three as well. Aren't you those kids who were convicted of murdering that Count Omar guy?" "No," Klaus said quickly. "Well, yes. Well…. Yeah, we are, but we didn't murder anyone!" "Count Omar doesn't even exist; his real name is Count Olaf," Violet said. "He's evil and scary and he's haunted our nightmares for months ever since the day our house burned to the ground, killing both of our parents in it." "Sinistmon!", Sunny added, which meant something along the lines of "And Olaf is the murderer, not us!"

"Oh, my god!" Danny exclaimed, walking towards them. Usually, when someone uses the expression "oh, my god," they're expressing their disbelief and it has nothing to do with any particular religion. "Oh, my. Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. Is there anything at all that I can do to help you out?" "Well, this is a part of a maze that we need to escape," Violet explained. We need to get out as fast as possible. The only problem is, the door is way up there. We can't fly, and the walls are much too smooth to climb, so could you maybe help us find a way out?" "Sure, I can fly you up there," Danny said. "I could probably carry all three of you at once. I've only ever done two people before, but the baby's only like what, five, ten pounds max?" "That would be about right," Klaus said. "And we would very much appreciate your help." Sunny crawled over to Danny and said "Sky!" Danny chuckled and said "Okay, hold on!" Violet and Klaus watched the two climb higher and higher in the air, finally reaching the door in the ceiling and letting Sunny crawl through it, then he zoomed back down towards the other two siblings. "Okay, brace yourselves," Danny said, becoming parallel to the floor. "And whatever you do, DON'T run. I don't want to have to chase you two down." Violet ignored her growing sense that Danny would collide with her and her brother and allowed Danny to scoop up both of them and fly them up to the door in the ceiling. Danny followed suit.

"Okay, get ready to fly," Danny said. "You aren't going anywhere," Sidney's voice said, "with MY DINNER!" He roared inhumanly, then launched himself at Danny. "Go!" Danny said. "How do we get down?" Violet shouted over the racket. Danny shoved each Baudelaire off the edge then said, "Just wait a sec!" Fifty feet and twenty thousand screams later, the children were surrounded by a glowing green bubble, followed by Danny's shouts of "Find someone's car! Get in the trunk! No, stop, Sidney!" Several blasting noises ensued. "I will find a way to get to you! Just go without me!" The Baudelaires looked at each other, then ran back through the woods. When they reached the end, they once again saw Olaf's car, but no Olaf. "Just get in the trunk!" Violet yelled, opening the trunk and shoving her siblings inside. After getting inside herself, she shut the door.

As the villains returned to the car and it drove off towards who knows where, I can only tell you two things for certain. The first thing is, Danny did win against Sidney, but never found the Baudelaires again, no matter how hard and long he searched. The second thing is that the Baudelaires, trapped once more in Olaf's cramped car trunk, were not headed anywhere good. Although I have not researched the Baudelaires nearly as much as Lemony Snicket has, it seems that Olaf will always be there, and things will _always_ get worse.

**_I know, lame way to end a fanfic, but the other ending I had was waaaaaaaay too happy for the story, and it didn't go with the plot anyways. I hope you liked my first fanfic on this site, and I'm sure that there will be many more to come. I've recently been deployed on a job concerning three other orphans and their troubles, so I'm hoping to get these tales out to the viewing public soon. I'm intensly happy that this fic is over and I can move on to others, including some starring a Mr. Danny Fenton/Phantom. Stay tuned!_**


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